Mischief
by Banshi
Summary: The continuing adventures of Duo, Trowa and the L2 street kids. Sequel to "Urchin", set decades after.
1. Prologue

Title: _Mischief_

Author: _Banshi_

_Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is the property of Bandai, Sunrise and Viz Comics. Leslie and the Clinic are property of DC Comics. I'm using the characters for fun and not receiving any money. The intellectual property that is this specific story however **does** belong to me, and I'd like to keep it, even if it doesn't help to pay the bills. Thank You._

Summary: The continuing adventures of Duo, Trowa and the L2 street kids. Sequel to "Urchin", set decades after.

Notes: I'm not entirely pleased with the way this portion turned out. It plays out much more like a comic book in my head, pictures that I'm having trouble describing in a way that goes with the narrative. Please let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions for improvement: SHARE!... please ^_^

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Prologue

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Duo wiped the steam from the bathroom mirror with the towel before setting to work on his hair. A few more glints of silver shone in the damp brunette mass today. Looking into his reflected eyes, Duo winked, knowing that he'd earned every one of those silver hairs. The stubble that he shaved from his weathered face each morning was now decidedly more gray than brown, but he didn't care. Only one person saw the stubble anyway, and Trowa's was even grayer.

Duo chuckled as he finished towel-drying the waist-length tangle. Years ago he had decided that laugh lines suited him. His opinion hadn't changed, even though he knew that now he looked every one of his approx. fifty years. Sometimes he even looked a little older. L2 had been kinder these last decades than it had been when he was a kid, and Duo knew that he was partially to blame for that. It just made him smile more.

He finished drying and quickly braided, his fingers still skilled and nimble. Despite all the kids he'd taught over the years, Duo Maxwell was still the best thief on the colony. Unless Heero and Relena's daughter was visiting, then he was tied for best. That girl had talent. He chuckled to himself, securing the braid with a black (of course) elastic band. 

There was a knock on the bathroom door. "Duo! If you don't get your skinny ass out of there in five seconds, I'm kicking the door down!"

Ah, it was such a pleasure sharing a bathroom with Une while she was visiting. Duo counted to four then opened the door and waved the Lady in, just as Pagan would open doors for Relena. Une huffed passed him and slammed the door closed behind her. Duo just chuckled again and sauntered towards the kitchen, hoping that someone had already made coffee.

Trowa was sitting at the kitchen table, helping one of Ben's kids finish up her homework before heading off to school.

"Remind me why we told her to stay here instead of a hotel with the rest of the Preventer representatives?" Duo asked plaintively as he poured himself coffee.

"Because she's nearly family, and you wanted to soften her up before asking for more Clinic funds." Trowa didn't look up from Helena's hand written grammar exercises. Duo looked from his beloved's concentrated expression to the young girl's anxious eyes. They went through this every morning: Helena would come in, bawling that she'd done the work all wrong, and Trowa would look over it, and pronounce it perfect. Which of course, Helena's homework always was.

Duo leaned to read over Trowa's shoulder, as he did every morning, and whispered the current variation of his opinion on the situation. "You know, you're just encouraging her to give herself and ulcer." Last week it had been "study herself to death," but Trowa had told him that he was being melodramatic.

"We're almost done." Trowa whispered back, "Eat something, it's your turn to walk them to school." Duo nodded and turned away. Helena's eyes were wide and frightened, proving that she hadn't heard what they were saying and assumed that something was horribly wrong with the exercises, Duo shot her one of his patented grin+wink combos and watched her relax into the chair. Duo made a mental note to have Ben get her blood-pressure checked. That much tension couldn't be healthy.

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Gina was frightened. She'd heard stories about things like this but they started: "When Duo was a kid..." Now she stared up at the men with wide eyes. She tried to make the "awww cute" expression that worked so well on grown ups. The men didn't do anything, just kept looking at her. She got nervous, and shifted her weight off of her feet, and bringing her tied hands up to clasp the simple gold disk that hung from a chain around her neck. She wanted to go home, but the men were standing in her way, had cornered her in the street as she tried lifting a couple of apples from a storefront. One of the men smiled as she went still again. It was the kind of smile that the police smiled when Duo came to bail someone out. It wasn't a nice smile and it caused fear to sizzle in the pit of her stomach, sharp and unpleasant.

The other man pulled a syringe in a plastic baggie, removed the syringe and held the evil-looking thing in his hand. Gina couldn't breathe around the scream that seemed frozen in her throat. She tore her eyes away from the syringe to look at the man's face. Now he was smiling too, as he sat on his heels so that he was eye-level with her.

Without a word he pulled the plastic cap off of the needle and grabbed her arm. The sudden tug broke the necklace chain. Gina nearly did scream then, except for the large hands covering her mouth and squeezing her throat. There was a pinch on the inside of her elbow, and the hand was squeezing her neck so that she couldn't get enough air. Gina started flailing, trying to get them away from her as the world went blurry with gray spots before her eyes.

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Viktor smiled at Decasco as the girl went limp. She was a tiny child, no more than eight years old. They had seen her visit the clinic frequented by the homeless; a place of vermin to be sure. Now at least she would serve mankind, and the two men would be paid handsomely for delivering the test subjects.

A quick search of the girl found a piece of gum, a few pieces of currency, and one of those photo ID's that this insignificant colony required for it's younger residents. Fools.

Viktor tossed it all into the nearest trash container as Decasco swung the girl over his shoulder. They left the alley as they had entered it: without a trace. The golden disk that Gina had treasured slipped to the ground, unnoticed. A soft electric buzz began emanating from the metal. An ominous signal when paired with the engraved kanji on the disk's back side: "Shinigami" 

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End Prologue

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Ah, it's so good to be posting again, and apologies that this sequal took so long. Hopefully it will lead to an interesting story. Anyway, please let me know what you think, either by reviewing or sending me a note at **fate@unseelie.zzn.com** because you know how I love feedback! ^_~


	2. Papa Death

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Chapter One

Papa Death

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Duo and Une had just lead Helena out the door when the computer beeped. Trowa sighed, he had just been about to pour himself another cup of coffee. Walking to the living room, he saw that it wasn't an incoming message, but a warning beep from Duo's locator program. All the children that had been "adopted" by the couple had been given a necklace with a homing device hidden in a simple charm. Duo's idea, and Trowa had thought only to humor him. Howard had done a good job, developing the device. They had only been set off by accident once.

Trowa brought up the map and alarm information. It was Gina's, and was emanating from an alleyway downtown, where she would have passed on her way to school. Trowa scribbled a note to Duo and stuck it on the dining room table, grabbed his jacket, an ran out the door.

They had officially adopted Gina when she was four. The child's mother had died at the clinic, a heart attack according to Ben. She had been staying with Duo and Trowa since, and had left early this morning to start a school project. As he ran, Trowa pulled out his cell phone and called the school. He didn't have hope that the charm had just fallen off and the child was safely in her classroom, but he had to check.

"Good Morning, Belford Elementary School. How may I help you?" Michelle answered the phone.

"This is Trowa Barton. I'm just checking to see if Gina Kozlyk made it to class today."

"I'm sorry Mr. Barton. Our records indicate that your daughter is absent this morning. Should I call the truancy officer?" The woman's voice was concerned, but Trowa clenched his teeth anyway. The truancy officer was the only one to call that would actually show up, but it still irritated him.

"No, that's alright. She walked to school on her own this morning, she's only just been old enough. She probably took a wrong turn. Could you please excuse the absence, I'll just be taking her home once I find her."

"Of course Mr. Barton. I'll send her assignments home with one of the other children." 

"Thank you Michelle."

He ended the call as he rounded the corner and looked into the alleyway. It was a dirty, smelly place, like all big-city alleys, and Trowa felt his stomach drop at the thought of his sweet little daughter in this place. She was afraid of rats, and wouldn't have come in here willingly. His eyes adjusted after a moment, and Trowa began scanning the asphalt for the simple gold disk, finding it almost immediately, glinting next to a discarded beach towel near the dumpster. There was so much trash and grime on everything, that even if he had been able to collect evidence, to find out what had happened, it wouldn't have done any good without a full crime scene team. Trowa clenched his fist and went to collect the charm. As an afterthought, he stood on his toes and looked into the dumpster.

The kidnappers hadn't even bothered to cover what little track they had left behind. The customary contents of Gina's pockets were in a heap on top of a large, full trash bag. Trowa collected the small pile as well. Surveying the alley, he saw nothing else that could positively be connected to Gina. His shoulders slumped and he began the trek home, as quickly as he could.

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Duo walked back into his house, after wishing Helena a good day at school and telling her to relax, to find a note from Trowa instead of the man himself. 

_Locator program alarm. Going to investigate. ~T._

It was odd. Trowa didn't like the locator program, and had just agreed to help set it up because Duo had begged and pleaded for months on end. The charms had been entirely Duo's idea, his "working" name proudly displayed on the children he was determined to keep safe. Just as Duo was going to look at the program himself, Trowa walked in through the front door. His face was pale and tense, bringing out the worry lines in his forehead, and his green eyes looked dim and troubled. For a moment, Duo was struck by how _old_ his beloved looked, tired and weighed down. Without another thought, Duo walked up to him and pulled him into his arms. Trowa returned the embrace with surprising strength, taking deep shuddering breaths. They were silent for long minutes, until Duo's curiosity and worry got the better of his instinct to comfort.

"What it is, Love?" Without a word, Trowa pressed what he was holding into Duo's hand. It was one of the locator charms, the simple gold disk winking in the light, Duo's moniker engraved on one side. "Shinigami." It was supposed to be a threat to the people harming his children, but seeing it filled Duo with a dread. "Who?" He asked in a tight whisper.

"Gina. She never made it to school. I found the charm in an alley on her rout. This stuff was in a dumpster, and I couldn't tell if the signs of a struggle were recent or not." Trowa held out his other hand, it held a piece of gum, some coins, and Gina's ID card. Duo felt the rage and despair wash through him, overwhelming for an instant, then it passed, washing away everything but what made him Shinigami.

Nobody went after his children.

Looking into fearful and determined green eyes, Duo saw a rage comparable to his own.

Nobody went after _their_ children.

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end part one

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Ah, it's so good to be posting again, and apologies that it took so long. You'd think I could get enough writing time in a month, wouldn't you? Sigh. Anyway, please let me know what you think, either by reviewing or sending me a note at **fate@unseelie.zzn.com** because you know how I love feedback! ^_~


	3. 24 hours

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Recently re-checked for typos. Sorry if I missed any.

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Chapter Two

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Duo decided that he'd use his Pilot advantage, and contacted Une.

Call Back Later, the text message ran across the vid-screen. Duo sighed, knowing that she was going to kick his ass if he kept bugging her while she was in her meeting. Just like she was going to kick his ass if he went around her and asked one of the other head-honchos.

He called again, adding the text code for emergency. If they were going to type this out, she'd damn well better be paying attention.

What!? He could clearly picture the scowle on her face.

Missing Kid

Who's?

MINE

Call Noin. Full Priv.

And that was why he liked her. Duo signed off with a Thanx and got to work using his brand-new full privelages. Getting access to the Preventer's database was easy, once he'd talked to Noin. She had developed a nearly physcic ability, and was good at acting accordingly. She _knew_ when they had really been given acess and when they had skipped that step. He was on-line and wading through L2 travel records within the hour.

He didn't think that it was likely that Gina's kidnappers had moved her off-colony by legitimate means. That didn't mean that he wasn't checking. While he was checking records of child travelers, he was also looking over the cargo ships' manifests. He still knew which ones were most likely to have stow-aways, willing and otherwise. Looking at the daunting lists, he sent a prayer:

_Please let her still be on colony._

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Trowa was ready to start throwing people. Shop keepers who had fingered Gina for petty theft from among a dozen very similar eight-year olds suddenly couldn't give him better answers than "Maybe."

"Maybe it was that kid."

"Maybe she had red hair."

"Maybe it was a girl."

"Could'a been a green jacket."

And on and on as Trowa canvassed Gina's rout, her photo ID and school portrait in hand. More than a few of the shopkeepers wouldn't look him in the eye, and only glanced at the photos. Catching sight of a uniformed officer, Trowa reminded himself that, little as it was, he was still getting clearer answers than the police would have. it was a supremely depressing thought. Still, he kept at it. Someone was bound to give up information. Someone had to know _something_. And he'd get it, even if he had to beat it out of them.

As the colony darkened to "night," Trowa finally headed back, knowing that Duo hadn't had much more luck than he had. Gina was out there somewhere, probably frightened out of her mind, and Trowa felt helpless.

Walking through the front door and meeting Duo's eyes, he knew that his husband felt the same. There would be no sleep this night.

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The police left the small house while admonishing the two distraut and dangerous fathers to leave the matter to the authorities. Nobody believed that they would, and the Detective shook his head as the door closed behind him.

"Twenty-four hours this girl's been missing, and these two have already compiled a better case file than we would have in a week." He sighed, admiring the older men for their abilities. There wasn't a cop on L2 these days that hadn't been brought through the acadamy with stories of the two men and their deeds for the people of the colony. But him, he'd _been_ here when they came to the colony. He'd gotten to watch the changes happen, and knew that the stories, unbelievable to most of the cadets, weren't even half as amazing as the truth.

"They have more time, and the luxury of being able to focus on one case, sir." The other detective was new. His partner could see in his eyes that the young one couldn't believe two men could do all that had been attributed to Trowa Barton and Duo Maxwell.

"They also have the head of the Preventers helping them on an freelance basis. What the Capt. wouldn't give for just fifteen minutes of that woman's time." The older detective sighed again, then smiled. "C'mon, let's see if we can't get their daughter back before they beat us to the scum that nabbed her."

"But you just told them to..." the young one started.

"Son, I'd be disappointed if they listened me."

They left the small house behind.

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End Part Two

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	4. Good Little Girl

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Chapter Three

Good Little Girl

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Gina woke up in a shuttle. She remembered the one that Duo had flown when he and Trowa had taken her to Earth with Uncle Ben and his family. She had gotten to sit in a seat a lot more comfortable than this one. She reached for her necklace, only to remember that it had broken when the man in the alley grabbed her arm.

She stretched in her seat to get a look around the shuttle. There were a few kids, mostly her age, sitting around. A lot of them looked like they were sleeping. There were a lot of empty seats, no kids were sitting together.

There were a few grown-ups, in the front rows, and they were sitting together, talking quietly to each other. None of them were the scary men from before, and that made Gina angry. She had missed school, they had broken her necklace and they weren't even on the shuttle with her. She sat back in her seat, scowling at the seatback in front of her.

There was a sharp pain between her shoulder blades, there and gone so quickly that she had only started jumping away when it was over, an electric zap, like static electricity. A voice whispered in her ear, making her look around wildly. "Little girls shouldn't frown. Good little girls smile and sit still."

None of the grown-ups looked back at her. Gina ran a hand through her hair, pulling at it in distress. Her fingers touched a wire behind her ear. A small device had been put in her ear so that the voice could talk to her. Gina started to pull at it, but another quick shock stopped her. "Good little girls should sit still." The voice repeated.

Gina sat still, trying to get her heart to slow down. The voice sounded weird like the person was talking into a microphone. She remembered how much she had laughed at how funny Duo's voice had sounded on the vid-phone message before he fixed the microphone, and this voice sounded a little like that, only not funny. She leaned carefully back in her seat, resting her head so that she could see the shuttle ceiling. There were cameras all over.

People were watching them. Gina looked at the other children, and every one of them was looking strait forward, or asleep.

The lights suddenly dimmed as one of the grown-ups stood at the front of the cabin. He clicked some switches and white noise started hissing in her ear. It was uncomfortable and her ear started hurting.

"Good girls go to sleep when they're told to." The voice came through the white noise. Nobody had told her to go to sleep! She opened her mouth to argue with the voice, and got zapped again. Gina whimpered.

"Good girls should be quiet. Be a good girl. Go to sleep." Gina sat very still and listened to the white noise.

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Duo's eyes drifted out of focus as the lists of privately hired shuttles scrolled down the computer screen. He knew that if he didn't get some sleep soon, then he wouldn't be any good to Gina when they found out where she had been taken. Still, he felt that if he stopped they'd never find her. Like the shuttle listing was going to show up on the screen for just a minute, then disappear again as it was erased.

Duo didn't have the energy to panic at the thought anymore, and people had stopped trying to reason with him. Even Trowa, who knew all the tricks to winning an argument. So Duo sat that the computer, watching each new entry as it was posted to the Preventers' database, in a living room that was covered in sleeping bodies. They all looked pale in the glow from the computer screen, the light washing away all color from them.

A pop-up message pulled Duo out of his thoughts, a brief flash of hope running through him. It was from Noin, giving him the access codes for some of the files concerning groups that targeted children. It had been Une's idea to search for a pattern, steering them away from the thought that Gina had been snatched because of who her adopted fathers were. From the looks of the files, Duo could tell that Une might have been right.

There were two operating in areas that had gotten a lot of shuttle activity from L2 in the last few days. Since there had been no sign of Gina on the colony, even after it had been figuratively torn apart by two Gundam pilots, a Preventer and nearly fifty members of the Barton-Maxwell extended "family," they had concluded that she must have been moved off colony.

Duo started sending messages to the Preventer office on colony 19926-X, hoping that they would have more information on a few of the shuttles. Like the quasi-military organization that they were, the office sent him a reply within the hour. Several of the shuttles had been carrying children, though only one from L2. They could determine nothing suspicious about this however, because one of their satellite colonies 19926-X12 was a privately owned boarding school. There were children coming in and out all the time.

Duo requested the passenger manifest from the one shuttle that had come from L2 and thanked them. He was sure that if the shuttle had been carrying Gina, they would have used fake names. If it hadn't been, than this was another fruitless avenue. A dead end, and he didn't know what to do next.

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Helena walked up to the Clinic's main building, clutching her books to her chest. She was supposed to meet Daddy here today, and stay with him until he was finished with his work, because the Grandpas were trying to find Gina. She hadn't been at school yesterday or today, and everyone had been asking if she was sick. Helena knew that she wasn't sick, Gina had left to do the early project when Grandpa Trowa had started correcting her own homework. As much as Gina ignored the important things, like school work, she never made the Grandpas worry by disappearing. So now Helena was scared to walk around by herself.

She saw the Clinic strait ahead, and started jogging towards it, to get to the safety of her father's side as quickly as possible. As she passed, she noticed the two rich men again. They leaned against the building on the corner, smoking cigarettes and watching the people coming in and out of the Clinic. Helena had been reminded of the gangster movies that Grandpa Duo and Daddy watched sometimes on TV. The ones that Grandpa Trowa said she wasn't old enough to watch all the way through. She didn't like the two men. She hadn't liked them the first time she saw them, when she had come to work with Daddy two weeks ago.

Helena jogged faster. She was going to get Daddy to tell them to go away.

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Duo looked up with bleary eyes as the front door slammed. He tried to decide if reprimanding whoever was abusing his house was worth the effort, but hadn't made a decision when Ben rushed into the living room, Helena jogging in behind him. Duo raised his eyebrows at his surrogate son.

"There are two strangers hanging around the Clinic. Helena says that she first saw them two weeks ago, and that they were watching her. A lot of the children that I was seeing today told me the same thing when I asked if they'd seen the strange men. They said that the men were only watching the children, not the adults who visit me. What if..."

Duo was awake, and already pulling up the database of inter-colony travelers for three weeks ago. For the Preventers' database, photo's were included. There were at least a hundred, maybe two hundred names.

"Did you get a look at them Ben?"

"Just their backs. They started walking away as soon as I was out the door."

Duo turned his attention to Helena, who was clutching at her school bag and wearing the same expression that she used when Trowa was correcting her homework. Duo took a deep breath and forced himself to act normal.

"Sweetie, would you please look at these pictures with me, and tell me if you see the strange men?" Duo smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner, and hoped that she appreciated him using proper grammar and everything. She smiled back and climbed into his lap to get a better look at the computer screen. Duo turned back to Ben, smiling at the combination of worry and excitement in the grown-boy's eyes, and continuing in his sparkling new good grammar, said, "Ben, would you please make us all a snack? We will be looking at these for some time. Thank you."

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_End Part Three_

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_Thanks for the comments on the last part Jordan, Seeress and Chibiange. Hopefully I've fixed all the problems, and that you enjoy this portion just as much. Answers to the mystery will be forthcoming...eventually ^_^_


	5. Interlude

_Long time, no write, I know. Thanks everyone who's still hanging in there, waiting for me to get off my ass and write. Hopefully this is worth it. This is just a bit of insight, not much furthering of the plot. I'm not very happy with it, so if you have suggestions, or want to beta-read, let me know._

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Chapter Four:

Interlude

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Gina curled up in her narrow bed. Her head ached from the constant white noise coming through the ear implant. Her stomach rolled because of the medication they had given her when they replaced the earphone with something under her skin, so that she couldn't take it out.

She wanted to go home!

Little snuffling noises were coming from the other beds in the long room. The sound almost never came from the same bed, so Gina knew that she'd get shocked if she started crying. She could almost hear the voice telling her that "good girl's don't cry." It had only been one day, maybe a day and a half since she woke up on the shuttle, and she was already feeling like this. She didn't know if she'd be able to stand it until Duo found her.

She only kept herself from crying because she knew that Duo and Trowa would find her. She took deep breaths and closed her eyes, forming a picture of Duo and Trowa in her mind. It made her feel better, and proved that the strange people here weren't spying on her thoughts. In the scary stories told by the patients at the Clinic, the bad guys always spied on your thoughts.

Gina relaxed into the mattress, reminding herself that sometimes people didn't even have one of those. She kept Duo and Trowa in her mind, they were smiling like they did when she brought birthday cake home from school for them. It had gotten mashed in her bag, but they had eaten it anyway. She hugged her pillow to her, thinking of her family, and managed to block out the white noise. Gina didn't sleep very well that night, but she slept better than everyone else, except the adults.

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Viktor looked at Decasco from across the table. The bulky man had a cigarette dangling from his lips and a twinkle in his eye. This made Viktor doubt that the two pair he was holding would beat whatever Decasco had. This did not stop him from raising the bid and grinning like he was holding a Royal Flush. Hopefully the other man would fold, and Viktor wouldn't have to pay up on the two hundreds he had just promised.

It had been a slow week, except for that red haired girl a couple of days ago. None of the other children coming in and out of the vermin Clinic were likely candidates for what their employer had in mind. Someone always seemed to take them home. Viktor snorted under his breath, remembering that the doctor at the Clinic kept brining one of his children with him, or having them meet him there after school. What a disgusting place to expose a child to.

Decasco raised the bid again, and smiled. The smile reminded Viktor of the shark that had tried to eat him the last time he was on Earth. He was tempted to shoot Decasco, like he had the shark. Handgun, harpoon gun, at this distance they both were effective.

Viktor folded, swearing silently. Now he had to snatch another kid, just to pay off what he had lost to Decasco, and he had to do it alone, or he'd have to split the take with the other man, and that defeated the purpose.

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Duo was starting to see double, and Helena was barely keeping her eyes open. So far, they hadn't found the strange men among the passport photos. Ben was curled up on the couch, going through the passenger manifests from satellite colony 19926-X12 for the last six months and comparing the adults with yet another section of the Preventers' database. Duo smiled bitterly. If he hadn't been so glad for having all of this information in one place, he'd be spooked that the organization was allowed to collect it all.

He sent a little 'thank you' heavenward that the Preventers were on his side.

Trowa walked back in from his latest visit to the police station just as Helena's head started to droop onto Duo's chest. He took one look at them and the photos on the computer screen, and shook his head in tired amusement. "Wouldn't it work better if you and I staked out the clinic to watch for them? There can't be that many people who look like extras from The Godfather hanging around that section of town."

Duo shot Trowa a look. "Yes, that would be easier. How come you always get to be the genius?"

Trowa shrugged, "Natural talent, I guess." Duo laughed softly, and stood, carrying Helena with him.

Ben looked up, "Everything here checks out so far. We might want to get someone to go over these guys' backgrounds a little more carefully though." He set the laptop down on the floor, where Trowa had left it for him. Standing and stretching, Ben worked the kinks out of his shoulders before reaching to take Helena from Duo. "Everyone's beat. Why don't we all get some sleep, then ambush these dirtbags tomorrow."

Trowa quirked an eyebrow, "dirtbags?"

Ben grinned, "It seemed as good a term as any until we know their names."

Duo chuckled, and wished them good-night before stumbling off in the direction of the bedroom. Trowa locked the door behind them, before following his husband. He found Duo at the door to Gina's room, his braid half undone and the hair-tie wrapped around tense fingers. Trowa walked up behind him and pulled him into an embrace. "We'll find her, Love. Nobody can outmaneuver us all."

Duo leaned back with a sigh, sounding older than he looked. "We're not as fast as we used to be, Tro. What if we're not fast enough?"

Trowa didn't have an answer to that, so he simply kissed the side of Duo's neck and pulled the other man gently down the hallway, determined that they were both going to get some rest. Tomorrow, they would hunt, and someone was going to pay.

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End Chapter Four

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Thanks To:

**Seeress**: You always say the nicest things.

**Jordan**: Sorry to make you wait so long.

**Everyone who didn't review**: Thanks for reading, I love you all, even in your silence.


	6. Way Too Easy

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Mischief:

Part Five

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Trowa shrugged into his oversized green army jacket, looking like every other disenfranchised old man this colony had ever known. The man he was watching wouldn't think twice about him.

He and Ben had taken turns watching the "gangster" for the better part of the morning, and could tell that he'd picked his next victim by the way he was shadowing a lanky young boy. The kid had no family on the colony, but was in the care of one of the larger groups still squatting in the warehouse district.

As the kidnapper moved in on the boy during a lull in the activity outside the Clinic, Trowa went for him, intending on disabling him.

It didn't go according to plan.

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Viktor took one look at the furious green eye of the man coming at him, and went for his gun. Cops be damned, Satan himself couldn't be scarier. He didn't get the chance to fire as his wrist was caught in an unbelievable grip and his knee gave out under one foot's assault.

He did manage to land a fist in the guy's gut, and heard the satisfyingly startled exhale of breath. The guy's grip didn't falter, but his stance did, and Viktor used the brief lapse to try yanking the guy off of his feet.

It didn't work, and the other hand came at him in a fist, and stars were all that followed.

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"You're getting old 03." Only the laughter in Une's eyes saved her from fierce retribution for that statement, Trowa mused as he glared at her from behind Ben's stethoscope. The hit to his diaphragm had winded him, and now his abdomen ached, so he was getting a thorough look-over by his son.

The kidnapper, Viktor Stutt according to his – probably fake – ID papers, was unconscious and restrained in the next room. Duo was currently managing to simultaneously hover over Trowa and find every evil-looking, rusty surgical tool on the colony. It would have made Trowa laugh if he had been able to breathe properly.

"I guess I'm out of the interrogation then." It was never really a question. Une and Duo had _always_ been scarier than he was one-on-one. Two-on-one, and stronger men then Viktor had crumbled in a matter of minutes. Trowa had no doubt that they would be on their way to get Gina within the hour.

"You can watch." Duo suggested slyly, a red-orange colored hook in his hand and what looked like knitting needles on wire trailing from the crook of his elbow. Duo glanced at the needles and then back at Trowa. "I _know_ you've seen Undercover Blues. I've been using their methods for years!" And Trowa smiled because it was impossible not to.

"You're missing the car battery."

"Une's getting it rigged up. Hey, d' you think you could record this for posterity?"

"No. Zechs _really_ doesn't want proof that he should be arresting the lot of us."

"Point." Duo sighed and walked into the room for a quick kiss. "Pack and we'll be ready to go as soon as the pig squeals." Trowa winced at the metaphor, but nodded at the instructions. He watched the silver and gold braid swing as Duo walked away before slowly pulling his shirt on and leaving as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Viktor woke to a face he recognized instantly. Every criminal, from mastermind to the two-bit hoodlum, knew Lady Une's face. They also knew never to be anywhere near it, unless they wanted to disappear into the bowels of the United Justice System. He started praying under his breath, words coming to him easily despite not having been used since childhood.

Une turned to look at someone behind him and off to the side, a malicious glint in her eye. "_This_ is why I don't retire. Old-Ladyhood wouldn't have nearly this many perks."

"And _that_ is why we tried so damn hard not to get caught. We knew we'd end up one of your 'perks' despite ourselves." The voice was deep, and amused, but Viktor sensed darkness and history in it. A chuckle soon followed the words as Une glared at the speaker. That chuckle promised all sorts of painful things.

Her eyes turned back to him, and Viktor fought not to shrink back from her gaze. "Well Mr. Stutt, shall we begin?" The chuckle behind him was louder this time, and came closer, circling in front of him until he saw the man.

He saw the eyes first. There was really no way to avoid them. They were a cold dark blue, like the night sky during deep winter when he was a child. In them Viktor saw the merciless calculation of a wolf just this side of starving, or the ice that slid from the rooftops, crushing all life in its path. He would not be leaving this one's presence until the man had what he wanted.

While he was staring at the man, Une spoke again. "Tell us where you send the children, and this can all end without ... incident." The pause was just long enough for him to grasp that "incident" could cover quite a lot of ground.

"We carry them to the shuttle port and hand them off to a woman. There's this whole theatrical scene that we're supposed to do where I'm wishing my wife and kid a nice trip an' all. She carries the kid off, and my money's in my coat pocket where she put it when she hugs me good-bye. Don' know which shuttle they're on, just the number to call when I got another kid for them."

He wasn't paid enough to get tortured for these people, and especially not for Decasco.

Une and the guy looked at each other and left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That was _way_ too easy!" Duo worried at his thumbnail while looking at Une. She frowned and then began looking through the contents of Viktor's pockets more closely. There were a number of business cards, mostly with notes written on them.

"Looks like he owes whoever 'D' is a great deal of money." She mused, and then pulled out a card without notes on it, looking very well-worn.

"Way, way too easy." Duo breathed, looking at it.

"He said 'we', didn't he?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'll explore that. Would you please run this number?"

"You don't want my help scaring the snot out of that guy?"

"Snot is not what I'm aiming for. And no, I think I'd better leave you out of this. If he is the one who took Gina, having her adopted father beating up the suspect won't go over well in court. Check on Trowa and the kids. Find where that number leads. I'll call you when he's finished talking."

Duo spent a moment in contemplation - again - of how glad he was that she was on his side. Then he nodded and walked away, leaving Viktor to his fate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to get back to this. Hopefully it will now be finished in a timely manner. Thanks, those of you who have stuck with me this far, and those of you just now finding this story. I promise, no more frustration over long breaks between chapters!


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